MAGAZINE

DRIP PAN

DOES THIS LOOK LIKE A FIRST DRIVE?

Don't you wish you coulda been along with this cat? First drive in his yet-unpainted roadster; feeling, sensing the results of his toil and investment?

Who is this young lion, and where did he go? Did he stay with cars or just drop 'em to raise the family?

The story is more available than you might think. This is a today shot, made old by the photog and what we have here is Augie Paro on one of the first rides in the roadster that we been rockin' our jaws about recently.

You can ask him first hand, now cain't ya?

GARY 20MILE WILL STICK ALL THIS STUFF TOGETHER THIS WINTER

LATE MODEL INVADES SPEEDSTER RUN

Frank McFadden ran his R P/U with the T Speedsters up in Wyoming this year and says it was a pretty bone deal .You can count on him to pedal a little HOP UP evangelism most every weekend all year. How does he do it....

He hasn't got a job (What?!!!) but he's off the hook, bein' 217 years old an' all that.

W.H. RHODES' '32 RHODESTER

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TONY MILLER WRITES:

Hey, Mark.

I was using your Hop Up reprint the other day to look up some stuff (handier than getting into the crumbly ones), and I was struck by something while looking at the cover: the overall quality of the 19 cars that were on those covers is amazing. Admittedly, I'm biased because those magazines formed my taste in hot rods and customs, but I think most guys would agree that these are outstanding examples of their types. I have no idea whatever became of the Callahan roadster (Aug '51), the Quesnel Merc (Mar '52), or all but 6 of the other cars pictured, but what killer cars they were!

My point: If I picked one year of any current magazine, I doubt that I could find as many cover cars that looked exactly right as those formative issues of Hop Up. Thanks for reminding us all.

Which reminds me of another thought that occurred to me a while ago. Most car guys of our generation admire the work of a bunch of builders from long ago: Art Chrisman, Sam Barris, Harry Miller, Harry Westergard, and so on. The interesting thing to me is that most of those guys were kids when they were doing their most inspired work; maybe not teenagers, but guys in their twenties and thirties, making up this stuff without a tradition to follow. I am especially inspired by that bunch of guys when I remember that they were just makin' it up spontaneously. Very cool.

My flattie blew a head gasket last week. Thankfully our friend Steve Beck was all over it, and I expect to have the car on the road again next week.

Tony Miller

CHI TOWN HUSTLERS

Bill says there were only 15 scrappers among 200 cars at the Chi version of the Belmont Shore car show, but the beaters drew the biggest crowds all day. Bill, (can I call ya NUMNUTS?), need pics again. Computer foul up. Or was it us?

HIGH ON HOP UP

Ya gotta feel good all over. Like when your hot rod just got on the road and no body has seen it yet and one of those shake-down drives is revealing of your own cleverness and thoroughness and everything feels right and sounds right and it's damn spunky and those bias ply tars aren't so bad after all and then you pull in to the Donut Shop for the first time and.................so many heads swing over at you that you get embarrassed and so many eyes are pinning the car that you could practically hear them (eyes) all swinging over at you in pairs (swiiiiish-thunk!)............and........you park and it draws a crowd and you sneak over to your Buddies and look back over your shoulder and they've swarmed it.....................yeah, yeah, we're supposed to do it for ourselves, and not for the fans, but..............it do feel sooooo good.

That's about how it feels when a peer publicly states that he likes Hop Up better than this or that other publication and the cats from the other one go in to a tizzy and offer a flurry of e mails and message board taunts and offer to advertise with him and.........

Maybe it's the underdog thang. Dunno. But some folks out there think that Hop Up is just about right, and we appreciate the fact that they notice and are willing to say so. They could send money....or parts ....or......naw...........the props are enough.

Thanks, Man.

POSSON SCULPTURE "RUNNING AT THE LAKES" NOW AVAILABLE THROUGH HOP UP

Just after WWII, hot rodding got a start when young men took their cars out to the dry lake beds to see what they would do.

They began a whole new industry right there on the dry mud.

"Running at the Lakes", a new bronze sculpture by Steve Posson, captures the spirit of the early lakes meets.

The car has Kelsey-Hayes wheels, a dropped axle and a race car steering wheel, but everything else is pretty much stock.....and well used.

The '29 body has the cowl gas cap and the '32 grill still has its original trim and cap. The interior is tired, the door handles sag, but you know all the work is in the motor!

The racers are in blue denims with rolled up cuffs, t-shirts and boots.

"Running at the Lakes" is 26" long, carefully made by hand in lost-wax silicone bronze on a marble base. There will only be 15 made. $6,500.00

For more details contact Morty at (909) 788-2500.

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